Sodus scandals

Genealogical research has shown me that long before Peyton Place there was the town of Sodus, in Wayne County, New York. Here, the indiscretions of its citizens regularly livened the pages of the local press. It was while tracing a female ancestor who had migrated from Prince Edward County to Sodus in the late 1800s that I discovered the sinful happenings of this colourful community.

In reading excerpts from a Wayne County newspaper, I discovered the romantic adventures of a young woman with the unfortunate name of Miss Susie Peeler. Engaged to an Episcopalian rector, the Rev. George Gurnell, she was about to enter a marriage her family and friends thought highly practical. Although she greatly admired her betrothed, it was agreed she did not possess the love for him “generally expected to seal matrimony.” In the weeks prior to her betrothal, Miss Peeler had became infatuated with the village telegraph operator, a man named H.O. Lyon. Her friends observed a growing affection between the two, but felt reassured when she stopped seeing Lyon after her engagement to Rev. Gurnell was announced.

Miss Peeler and her fiancé had made living arrangements prior to their wedding and were furnishing the matrimonial home. Durnell had left Sodus for a short time and asked his brideto- be to meet him in Rochester where they would select a piano for their parlor. The young woman agreed, but instead eloped to Rochester with Lyon, leaving Durnell “shocked and nearly crazed.” Miss Peeler’s parents were described by the paper as being “nearly wild” with the outcome of the affair.

In a subsequent issue of the Sodus newspaper, a story with the heading “John Du Burk Leaves for Parts Unknown – A Sodus Sensation” revealed a tantalizing mystery. It was reported that the congenial local store clerk had disappeared, leaving his wife to fight the battle of life alone. It was revealed that Mrs. Du Burk, who had felt nervous about spending time alone in the couple’s home in the evenings, had been staying with family in the town of Ontario. When she returned to visit her husband in Sodus she found him gone. He had told her he was planning to visit his sister in Rochester, so initially she assumed he had made arrangements with his employer for a vacation to do so.

When he did not return and no word was received by his wife, his employer went to Rochester to investigate. He learned nothing regarding Du Burk’s whereabouts, other than that he had been seen with his sister at Ontario Beach by three Sodusites. Further inquiries were made, but Du Burk remained missing. A Sodus resident recalled that he had seen him clip an article from the local newspaper and study it intently. Curious, he had retrieved the discarded paper and examined the page from which the clipping had been taken. He matched it with another copy of the same paper and found that Du Burk had clipped an article on divorce in the western states.

John Du Burk was never seen again. It was reported that his wife received a letter from him with an Illinois postmark, informing her that he would never return to her or to Sodus and she should not look for him for she would never find him. The Sodus newspaper reported that “the news came to her like a thunderclap from a clear sky.”

With the romantic adventures of the residents of Sodus and its surrounding area, it is easy to imagine that the local newspapers enjoyed a strong readership. Nothing seemed too scandalous for print. After considerable research, I did find that my long lost ancestor, a Miss Susan Haylock, had done well, having married the town butcher. Unfortunately, he died at a relatively young age following an illness of only two days duration. My curiosity was piqued when in the report of his demise the Sodus press stated that the doctor had been summoned by a young woman visiting his sickbed. There was no mention of where my great-great-great Aunt Susan had been at the time or of why she had not observed her husband’s sudden decline and called for help. Our family name had narrowly escaped the headlines in the Sodus forerunner of the National Enquirer.